GAO Finds Errors and Unsupported Estimates in White House’s DOGE ‘Wall of Receipts’ $110.3B Claim

A Government Accountability Office audit found that the White House-backed DOGE “Wall of Receipts” claimed $110.3 billion in savings from contract, grant and lease terminations, but some of those estimates were wrong, unsupported or based on methods the public could not evaluate.

In a report published Wednesday, GAO said the public dashboard “was not transparent regarding methodologies used to calculate savings” and urged the Executive Office of the President, through the U.S. DOGE Service, to clearly warn users about known data quality problems and limits. “As of July 7, 2026, the Wall of Receipts reported savings of $110.3 billion across contracts, grants, and leases, but some savings estimates are incorrect or lack supporting evidence,” the report said.

The report, GAO-26-108615, reviewed Wall of Receipts entries from Jan. 20, 2025, through July 7, 2026. DOGE began posting estimated savings on the site on Feb. 17, 2025. GAO said that as of July 7, the Wall reported about $61.02 billion in contract savings, $49.21 billion in grant savings and about $113 million in lease savings.

GAO stressed that its audit covered contract, grant and lease termination savings shown on the Wall, not every category behind DOGE’s broader public claim. DOGE’s site separately displays “Estimated Savings $215B.”

The audit found major gaps in how DOGE calculated the figures it did publish. For contracts, GAO said DOGE did not use its stated methodology to calculate the majority of savings reported for terminated contracts. For grants, GAO said DOGE did not provide enough information to verify the method used for 96% of reported grant savings. And for leases, the Wall did not explain how savings were calculated at all.

One of GAO’s clearest examples involved a Defense Health Agency information technology services contract. DOGE reported more than $1.7 billion in savings tied to that contract, but GAO found that although DOGE initially identified it for termination, no termination, scope reduction, funding reduction or other action ever occurred. As a result, GAO said, “no savings were achieved.”

GAO also found substantial problems in DOGE’s lease claims. Of the 264 leases listed on the Wall, 108 were already in process for termination before DOGE was established. Those 108 leases accounted for about $15.3 million of the $53.5 million in savings represented by the posted lease rows. Overall, GAO said DOGE’s reported lease savings were overstated by $81.1 million.

The agency said DOGE’s website reported about $113 million in lease savings, while the posted lease rows added up to about $53.5 million. GAO said it was able to validate only $31.8 million in actual lease savings.

To test the claims, GAO said it compared DOGE’s figures with authoritative federal sources, including the Federal Procurement Data System, USAspending.gov and General Services Administration lease data, and interviewed agency officials where possible. DOGE did not respond to GAO’s requests for information or interviews during the review, and GAO said the U.S. DOGE Service did not provide comments on the report.

GAO recommended that the White House ensure “known data quality issues and limitations are prominently displayed on the Wall of Receipts.” The DOGE site says, “We are working to upload all of our receipts in a digestible and transparent manner consistent with applicable rules and regulations.”

DOGE was created by Executive Order 14158 on Jan. 20, 2025, as part of the administration’s push to cut spending and increase transparency. Federal agencies obligated more than $2 trillion for contracts, grants and leases in fiscal 2025. GAO said the Wall had not been updated since Jan. 1, 2026, though it remained live as of July 7, 2026, and still showed $215 billion in estimated overall savings.